1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a combination hole puncher and reinforcer by means of which holes are punched in sheets of material, such as paper, and concurrently reinforced with flat, annular rings around the holes.
2. General Background and State of the Art
In offices throughout the world hole punching devices have been utilized for many years so as to punch holes in sheets of paper, and sometimes plastic sheets, to allow those sheets to be secured in files. Sheets of paper are often punched at the top with a pair of holes that allow them to be secured at the top to files using pronged fasteners. Other types of hole punchers are used to punch holes in papers and other sheets of material along the sides to allow them to be secured in ring binders.
A problem that has persisted through the years is that considerable stress is often applied to the structure of papers fastened in files in the area immediately surrounding the punched holes. The papers then tear through the short distance of material between the holes and the edges of the sheets of paper near which they are formed. When this occurs the sheets will no longer remain in the file.
One system for remedying this situation that has been available for many years is the use of flat, annular reinforcing rings that may secured to the areas surrounding the punched holes. These reinforcing rings are typically formed of a material of greater strength than the paper in which the holes are punched. The reinforcing rings are coated with either a moisture-sensitive or pressure-sensitive adhesive and are applied to the sheet of paper or other material once the holes have been punched.
The principal problem with this prior arrangement is that it has historically been performed manually. The task of reinforcing punched holes in the hundreds, and even thousands, of sheets papers that are secured in files by the manual application of such reinforcing rings is often so labor intensive as to be impractical. Consequently, this system of reinforcement, while used to some extent, is not prevalent.
One attempt to alleviate this problem is to incorporate hole reinforcement on each sheet of paper before the paper is used. It is possible to buy pre-punched and pre-reinforced paper, where the holes are either individually reinforced, or where a strip of reinforcement material has been added one of the margins of the paper. However, such reinforcement results in the paper being thicker. Thus, when the paper is packaged for sale, typically in a ream, approximately 500 sheets, additional storage space is needed for the same amount of paper. Moreover, the reinforcements add to the cost of the paper. This is undesirable since not all holes typically need reinforcement.
Various hole puncher and reinforcer devices have been created in attempts to provide alternative way of reinforcing the structure of sheets of paper around punched holes therein. Numerous machines have been fabricated that draw segments of adhesive tape from rolls and secure them to sheets of paper or plastic contemporaneously with the perforation of those sheets. When such devices operate properly, the sheets of paper are provided with short sections of tape at the edges of the papers in which the holes are formed. Holes are punched through both the segments of tape and the underlying paper or other sheet material.
These tape reinforcement devices also have, to a large extent, proved impractical. The feed mechanisms for the tape often jam and the tape often adheres to parts of the punching machines as it is fed toward the location on the sheets of paper at which it is to be applied.
Another problem with systems employing adhesive tape to reinforce the areas about punched holes is that the punch mechanism must penetrate not only the paper in which the fastening apertures are to be formed, but also the tape as well. Since the tape is coated with pressure-sensitive adhesive, articles of adhesive are transferred to the punch mechanism. This creates a certain gumminess in the punch mechanism that reduces the effectiveness of the punch in creating apertures. Also a build-up of adhesive in the punch mechanism contributes to the fouling of the tape as the tape is fed into position to be pressed against the paper.